Letting emotions come and go

During my Hot Flow yoga class today I had a new teacher; it is always interesting getting someone new in the studio because I never know what to expect. After being with this studio, Pure Yoga, for two years, I have already established my "favourite instructors" and am always a bit reluctant to change out.

I was reminded today, however, the impact of a fresh perspective and how meaningful something someone says can be when delivered at the right moment. You can give people all the advice in the world, but unless they can link that advice back to their own lives even the most compelling words can be lost.

Greg, the new instructor, is exceptionally articulate and gave a great class that left me even sweatier than usual (and this Ang Mo gets really sweaty). I think we were very serious or something, because he kept pointing out that we should smile more and enjoy ourselves. He said, "when you push yourselves, some of you get a really horrible look on your faces! Remember that how you approach a challenge in yoga class is often how you approach tough things in real life. If you're the type to complain about an extra five seconds of a difficult pose, you will tend to deal with challenges in every day life the same."

This comment really snapped me into reality, as I have been practicing yoga for three years now and have never related my practice back to how I deal with life in the real world. Quite honestly, I had always looked at yoga, until today, as something to keep me in shape and calm(er) than normal. It wasn't until I saw myself with a scrunched up face in the mirror and heard the negative thoughts of, "ahhh when is this going to end???" that it clicked that this was how I deal with things!

It is so often that I find myself wishing my way out of situations that I look for quick fixes instead of getting down and dirty and looking at why or how I got myself into a tough situation in the first place. I feel thankful that I am now more aware of this, because, as Greg sais, "the yoga mat is the perfect place to work out those issues!"

He also followed up at the end of the class by pointing out that we should take note of those negative things that we say to ourselves as we are doing postures that tend to be more challenging than others. For me, it is the forward bends! By putting ourselves in the mindset that a pose is going to be challenging, we allow ourselves to feel anxiety towards what we are doing, he noted. And when we have a negative emotion (i.e. "I can't stretch my hands all the way to the bottom of my feet in a standing forward bend - I ain't no Asian I'm an inflexible Caucasian!"), it can stay with us throughout the entire class.

A simple shift in our emotions and letting that thought go by being aware that you want to focus on something more positive is all it takes to improve and turn a bad pose into an improving pose.

The same is true in everyday life. All it takes sometimes is one bad thing to happen (i.e. Tangie scratching up my new wallet...ahem) for us to get in a funk. Just being aware of this bad emotion and focusing on something positive or telling yourself something good right after we feel a bad emotion can balance us back out and push us into a more positive mindset.

I tell this kind of stuff to my kids every day during the Success Coaching Programme training that I have been doing at work. Funny how this particular lesson didn't click with me until now... all it takes hearing something from the right person at the right time. Thanks Greg - I'll be going back for your classes!

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